Nehemiah Persoff, Prolific Star of 'Yentl,' 'Some Like It Hot,' Dies at 102

Nehemiah Persoff, an actor whose face — if not his name — was instantly recognizable across a 50-year career, died Tuesday in San Luis Obispo, California. He was 102.

Persoff's son confirmed his passing to THR.

Born in Jerusalem on August 2, 1919, he emigrated to the U.S. at age 10. He served in WWII and entertained American troops as an actor ahead of becoming one of the inaugural members of the esteemed Actors Studio in NYC.

From 1949-1959, he appeared on Broadway 11 times, and meanwhile launched an incredibly busy career in films (making an uncredited debut as early as 1948) and on TV (debuting in 1949).

Though uncredited, he was the cabbie in the iconic "I coulda been a contender" scene in "On the Waterfront" (1954). He also appeared in "The Wrong Man" (1956) for Alfred Hitchcock, and in such films as "The Wild Party" (1956), "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965), "Voyage of the Damned" (1976), "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), "Twins" (1988), and provided his distinctive voice to "An American Tail" (1986) and several spin-offs.

His two most famous film roles were as the flamboyant gangster Little Bonaparte in the Marilyn Monroe classic "Some Like It Hot" (1959), and as the man to whom Barbra Streisand's title character sang the Top 40 hit "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" in "Yentl" (1983).

Streisand, who directed and starred in the acclaimed film, remembered Persoff on Twitter, writing, "Nicky lived a long loving life. I'll miss you Papa!!"

After appearing on hundreds of TV series — including "The Twilight Zone" (1959), "The Untouchables" (1959-1962), "Gilligan's Island" (1965), and "Columbo" (1976) — he closed out his acting career in 1999 in order to focus on his work as a fine-arts painter, which he pursued until his death.

In 2021, he published the autobiography "The Many Faces of Nehemiah" at age 101.